Neon tubing support



May` 5, 1959 J. E. MAI-10N ETAL NEON TUBING SUPPORT Filed May 21, 1956 NEON TUBING SUPPORT Joseph E. Mahon, South Gate, Edward M. Walter, Los Angeles, and Clyde C. Heyer, South Gate, Calif.

Application May 21, 1956, Serial No. 586,141

2 Claims. (Cl. 24U-11.4)

This invention relates to new and improved unit clips.

In order to understand the invention, it is considered advisable to specify the meaning of the term unit used in the title employed to designate this invention. In the industry devoted to the manufacture and assembly of advertising signs of the so-called neon type the term unit is employed to designate a glow lamp formed out of a tube of glass. A glass tube or unit of this type is filled with a gas and is provided with electrodes so as to provide colored illumination when current is supplied to the electrodes. Tubular glow lamps or units are mounted in conventional use upon a supporting surface or sign body in such a way that they are insulated from such a supporting surface so that there is little danger of leakage current passing from the glass unit to the supporting surface under various weather conditions and the like. In the conventional assembly of neon advertising signs and the like a glass stand is employed as an insulating support structure. Such stands are formedf so as to have a yforked end adjacent to which there formed projections located on each side of the stand. In use a glass tube forming a part of a lamp unit is located between the arms of this fork type of structure and a copper or other similar wire is wrapped around the tube and the projections so as to hold this tube in position. This type of structure suffers from many operational deficiencies. It is diiiicult and relatively incon- Venient to mount a lamp unit utilizing glass stands of this category. A more important disadvantage of this type of glass stand structure lies in the fact that the wires used are opaque, and hence break up the continuous illumination produced by the lamp unit. Also, copper wires or the like such as are conventionally employed tend to discolor the lamp unit after prolonged weathering, and currents are apt to be induced in these wires.

An objective of this invention is to provide assemblies for mounting lamp units of the class described which overcome substantially all of the disadvantages of the above and other prior art structures designed for the same purpose. A further object of the invention is to provide assemblies for the purpose indicated which are easy and inexpensive to manufacture and to utilize. A related objective of the invention is to provide assemblies of this category which can be employed with lamp units having glass tubes of Varying diameters. Still further objectives of the invention are to provide holders and clips as will be hereinafter specified for use in mounting lamp units. Other objectives of the invention, as well as many specific advantages of it, will be more fully apparent from the remainder of this specification, including the appended claims and the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a lamp unit mounted with unit clips of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view taken at line 2-2 of Fig. 1, this view being partially in section so as to reveal certain construction details;

United States Patent C) ICC Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional views taken in the direction of lines 3, 4 3, 4 of Fig. 2 of the drawings showing respectively, the relationship of certain parts during assembly, and during use;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a complete clip employed with unit clips of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a holder employed;

Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are partial side elevational views similar to Fig. 2 illustrating the use of clips of this invention with tubing of various diameters; and

Fig. l0 is a partial side elevational view showing the construction of a shank of a modified clip capable of being employed with the invention.

In all figures of the drawing like numerals are used to designate like parts whenever convenient for purposes of illustration and explanation. While the accompanying drawing is proportioned so as to designate certain preferred embodiments of the invention it is to be understood that this invention is not limited to structures formed exactly as shown inasmuch as skilled mechanics in the field to which this invention pertains can readily design a number of differently appearing unit clips utilizing the essential features of this invention.

In order that this invention may be readily understood it may be stated in essentially summary form that it relates to unit clips each having the form of an assembly including: a holder having a base adapted to be attached to a supporting surface and a cylindrical body portion adapted to retain a shank formed on a clip; and a clip having an elongated shank adapted to be held by this cylindrical body portion and a bifurcated end, the arms of this end being formed so as to retain a glass tube, this clip being formed of a resilient, light permeable material and being located so that the shank is held by the cylindrical body portion of the holder. Since both the clip and the holder can be separately manufactured and sold for other purposes than are hereinafter described, it is to be understood that this invention encompasses the structure of each of these parts separately from one another, as Well as when they are assembled. The invention also encompasses in its scope structures in which a lamp unit is held by assemblies as described.

In order to more fully understand the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawing. In Fig. 1 there is shown a sign 10 having a surface 12 upon which there is located a lamp unit 14. A glass tube 16 forming a part of this lamp unit is supported so as to be insulated from the surface 12 by means of unit clips or assemblies 18 of the present invention. Each of these.

assemblies includes a holder 20 and a clip 22.

As can best be seen from an examination of Figs.` 2 and 6 of the drawing, each of the holders 20 is formed so as to include a fiat base 24 adapted to be attached to the surface 12 by means of a screw 26 or other equivalent means passing through an opening 28 in this base. A resilient arm 30 extends outwardly from the base 24 so as to support a cylindrical body portion 32 on the surface 12 so that this body portion is located a short distance from the surface. The cylindrical body portion 32 forming a part of the holder 2t) is provided with a longitudinal groove 34 extending parallel to the axis of this portion 32 between the ends of it. Small projections 36 are provided upon the body portion 32 on each side of the groove 34 on the end of the body portion 32 remote lfrom the surface 12.

The projections 36 are adapted to slide within a longitudinal groove or keyway 38 and in circumferential grooves 40 formed within a shank forming a part of the clip 22. Thus, with this structure, the shank 42 may be located as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawing and inserted within the cylindrical body portion 32 to any desired'extent and then twisted to the position shown in Fig. 4 of the drawing so as to complete the assembly of a unit clip 18. Preferably, the shank 42 is formed of such dimension as to t tightly within the cylindrical body portion 32 so as to prevent undesired movement. If desired, the end of this shank fitting within the holder 20 can be tapered so as to facilitate assembly.

The end of the clip 22 remote from the holder 20 is provided with a bifurcated arm structure having arms 44 which diverge away from the shank 42 and then converge towards one another so that their ends are located adjacent to, but spaced from, one another. Preferably, these arms are of generally at shape so that the glass tube 16 may be snapped between them as shown in Fig. 2 and rigidly held in such a manner that neither this tube nor the clip 22 can rotate so long as other portions of the tube 16 are held with either unit clips 18 of this invention or other means.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 of the drawing various viewsy are shown illustrating how the arms 44 employed with a clip 22 can be utilized to hold various tubes 16', 16, and 16 of different diameters. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5 of the drawing, the circumferential grooves 40 are formed so as to extend in a single plane about the axis of the shank 42. If desired, a structure of the clip 22 may be altered as illustrated in Fig. so as to provide a modied clip 22' in which the circumferential grooves 40 are formed in a thread-like manner around the shank 42. The remainder of this modified clip 22 is identical with the clip 22.

It is preferred to form the holder 20 out of any convenient resilient non-corrosive metal such as coated steel; it is preferred to form the clip 22 or the modified clip 22' out of a resilient, comparatively strong, transparent polymer such as a butyrate polymer produced by Eastman Chemical Products, Inc. of Kingsport, Tennessee, and sold under the trade name Tenite II, Formula 435, H4. It is to be understood, however, that other materials can be utilized.

One of the advantages of this invention lies in the fact that a shank 42 may be manufactured at any convenient length, and may be cut at the site of an installation to any desired length. Another advantage of this invention lies in the fact that when clips such as are described herein are employed that a line does not break up the illumination produced by a lamp unit so as to affect the appearance of the lamp unit. A further advantage lies in the fact that unit clips as described can be readily adjusted in any manner during installation and are sufficiently resilient so as to give in order to prevent breakage. Because of the fact that Ia wide variety of modifications may be made without departing from the essential features or principles of this invention, it is to be considered as being limited only by the appended claims.

It is claimed:

1. An assembly for use in holding a tubeforming a part of an electric lamp which comprises: a holder formed of a resilient metal having a base adapted to be attached to a supporting surface, a resilient arm attached to said base so as to extend therefrom, a cylindri- Cil cal body portion attached to said arm so as to project therefrom, said body portion including a slit extending parallel to the axis thereof along the entire length of said body portion and projections formed on the inside of said body portion on the end thereof remote from said base, said projections being located on each side of said slit and being adapted to engage a groove; and a clip formed of a resilient, transparent material having an elongated, cylindrical shank, one end of said shank being provided with circumferential grooves 'and a longitudinal groove intersecting said circumferential grooves, and a bifurcated portion having arms, located at the other end of said shank, said arms being curved so that the ends of said arms converge towards one another, and the ends of said arms being spaced from one another, said shank being adapted to be located within said cylindrical body portion by being inserted so that said pro jections pass through said longitudinal groove and then by being twisted so that said projections t within one of said circumferential grooves, said shank and said cylindrical body portion being dimensioned so that said shank ts closely within said cylindrical body portion so as to be held lagainst undesired movement when so located.

2. A sign structure which comprises: a supporting surface; a lamp unit having a tubular member forming a part thereof located parallel to said supporting surface so as to be spaced therefrom; a plurality of holders, each of said holders being formed of a resilient metal so as to include a base attached to said supporting surface, a cylindrical body portion `attached to said base and at least one projection formed on the inside of said body portion on the end thereof remote from said base, said projection being adapted to engage a groove; a clip held by each of said holders, each of said clips being formed of a resilient, transparent material having an elongated cylindrical shank, one end of said shank being provided with circumferential grooves and a longitudinal groove intersecting said circumferential grboves, and a bifurcated portion having arms located at the other end of said shank, said arms being curvedso that the ends of said |arms converge toward one another, the ends of said arms being spaced from one another, said clips each being inserted within one of said holders with the shank of each of said clips located within the cylindrical body portion of one of said holders so that said projections fit within said circumferential grooves, said arms of said clips resiliently engaging said tubular member so as to hold said tubular member in a desired position spaced from said supporting surface.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,671,458 Wilson May 29, 1928 2,154,812 Hauser Apr. 18, 1939 2,543,713 Yeager Feb. 27, 1951 2,556,779 Ross June 12, 1951 2,565,635 Thuernau Aug. 28, 1951 2,566,076 Walsh Aug. 28, 1951 2,623,988 Brown Dec. 30, 1952 2,629,814 Brown Feb. 24, 1953 

